Sometimes an experiment can be successful, so it pays to be adventurous out in the rose garden. I knew that the small empty patch of ground that faces north in my backyard would provide good shade for starting several cuttings from my 'Red Galaxy' rose. The cuttings were taken in the first half of June (2014), individually potted, and then placed atop the aforementioned patch where they received at most 2 hours of direct sun each day. To seal the deal, they all were misted several times a day -- you do what you have to do when you don't have a greenhouse. The photo below to the left shows the cuttings after about 1 month. They were doing so well that I decided to let them permanently reside in the shady patch. I'll refer you to my post of September 22, 2014 titled "
The chicken inspector" to see how they looked after being planted out. The photo below to the right shows them today, healthy plants with bright blooms in an otherwise shady spot.
For this experiment, two factors were in my favor. First, the shade is house shade, not tree shade, so bothersome tree roots won't be spoilers. Second, the chosen rose variety mostly has blooms of 5 petals, so the blooms open a lot easier than a heavier petalled rose.
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| Photo taken: July 17, 2014 |
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| Photo taken: August 16, 2015 |
